what do i do?

[tkdkid123]

I absolutely love martial arts but i had to quit about a year ago because we had so much to do. I am really regretting it. i want to start back so badly, but i already have other things that i have to do. any suggestions?

[JusticeZero]

Start.

People say they have no time. If they start trying to make time for things, suddenly huge amounts of time come available.Often times, huge stretches of the 'busy' was busiwork at best.

[sensei8]

Yeah, I agree with JustceZero...just start.

Whenever I hear that people don't have time for class/training, I sort of chuckle. Why? If one would total the time that one's doing absolutely nothing during the awakened day, one would be sure to find that they have more time to devote to the martial arts then they truly imagined.

A lot of classes only last 1 hour. 1 hour times 3 days a week equals to 3 hours a day. Now, if you add driving time and the little time spent at the dojo before and after class, maybe that comes to 4 hours a week. But, don't forget training/practicing. Lets add 6 hours a week for training/practicing. Now we're up to 10 hours a week, to be honest, 10 hours isn't a lot, nor a reason to not start.

That's my opinion.

[DWx]

Just go for it. Maybe try scheduling in one class a week and then slowly work up. Don't be regretting that you didn't do things when you're older. Can always make time if you need to. For example, how long do you watch tv for in the week? Skip a 1hr long tv show and that's 1hr for class time.

My friend (who has ADD) has a watch that beeps every hour and on the beep he has to say to himself "what have I done in the last hour?". Its supposed to be a technique to get him to concentrate on and finish tasks but I've also started using it purely to stop wasting time. Surprising how much time you can spend doing nothing in particular.

[tkdkid123]

thanks. I really want to! I'm gonna try to convince my mom to let me. but she always says we dont have the money right now or I dont want to waste the gas on driving you there and back home. should I try to pay for myself since she is already paying for my tennis lessons/practices?

[tkdkid123]

DWx, that's true I guess I have been wasting time like watching tv or on facebook when I could have been training. Thanks for the advice, I'll try that method!

[JusticeZero]

How far away is it?

My family hasn't owned a car for years, with some gaps (that I generally regretted). The teenage daughter was able to get around to whatever she needed to on her own just fine with her bicycle and bus pass and shoes.

People just get locked into the idea that they have to drive everywhere. Which is sad, really; as I have told people here, I study transportation and as a result know more about cars and gas than most people out there - and as a result, I ride a bicycle, walk, and take buses everywhere. The places I get with those absolutely boggles many people who are used to driving everywhere.

Ten miles between two towns? That's 45 minutes of mild cardio that I don't have to hit a gym for, is all.

I used to use an Xtracycle mounted on my bike to load a full grocery cart of shopping around; now i'm getting a different kind of cargo bike to do exactly the same thing but be able to load it on a bus too. The X could carry a passenger, but made the wheelbase longer than a bike carrier on a bus.

People would think that it is 'too far to walk' across a parking lot to a building where they walk twice that distance indoors several times going from one section to another. I've seen people, rather than walk to a restaurant down the street, walk to their car, PARKED FARTHER AWAY THAN THE RESTAURANT, drive to the restaurant, circle the block for 10 minutes looking for a parking space, find one FURTHER THAN THE ORIGINAL TRIP WOULD HAVE BEEN, walk to the restaurant, then sneer at the idea of walking to the restaurant in the first place because "it's too far to walk".

Finally, people will turn up their noses saying that they have to drive to get to the store because it is 20 miles away. At which point you can sometimes look on a map, point at a slightly smaller store, and say "What's wrong with that one six blocks away?"

This is often coupled with "I can get things $0.15 cheaper at the other place." Really? But you just burned up $5 in gas to get there...?

Anyways, the upshot of this is that you might be able to remove the "But I don't want to drive you" part of the argument on your own. There might be a great school close in, or you can possibly get there and back without help if you look into it.

[tkdkid123]

the only thing is that my old karate school is 30 minutes away by car but there is a school closer to me but i know nothing about, its about 5 minutes by car. but my mom wont let me walk because I'm too young to walk on a busy road by myself.

[MasterPain]

the only thing is that my old karate school is 30 minutes away by car but there is a school closer to me but i know nothing about, its about 5 minutes by car. but my mom wont let me walk because I'm too young to walk on a busy road by myself.

Look into the closer one.

Have you thought about doing this instead of tennis?

[JusticeZero]

I was allowed to walk alone by busy roads when I was 7, personally... things were a lot more dangerous then and there was a lot more crime. It's gotten a lot safer since then.